Ethan Kenway: The Avenger of Remnant
by Arno Uzumaki
Summary: Sixteen year old Ethan Kenway is suddenly transported to the world of Remnant with the powers to change the events of Volume 4. Now, he just has to reunite Team RWBY, revive old allies, make new friends, and help defeat the Queen that will do everything in her power to get the Relics. What else should he do?
1. Blazing Blue

-/- Mountain Glenn, Outskirts of Vale -/-

Grey and black rubble and ruined buildings decorated the gloomy landscape of Mountain Glenn. This was all that was left of the dreams that Vale had for expanding its Kingdom. Not to mention that the Grimm that were roaming around the ruins only added to the list of regrets.

The concentration of Grimm had risen in the desolate region since the night Beacon fell, with the more experienced Creatures of Grimm gradually taking over control in the area from the youngsters as the months went by.

For some reason, however, that was going to change now.

From the forests that slowly transitioned into the grey wasteland of the abandoned city walked a young man clad in a grey cloak. For dramatic effect, the hood covered the upper portion of his face, though a smirk was visible on his features as he calmly swaggered into the first meters of Mountain Glenn with an aura of determination and solemnity around him.

As he walked on, his dark sapphire colored eyes caught the sight of a pack of Beowolves that were beginning to surround him, and his smirk began to fade, replaced by a straight line void of emotion. Snarls of immediate hostility signalled to him that he needed to draw out his weapons and fight. However, he only stood in the middle of the circle made by the Grimm, seemingly unafraid.

A courageous (and probably pissed off) Beowolf decided to make the first attack, lunging towards the man before swiping at him with its claws. The target, however, made unusual signs with his hands, muttering something under his breath, and in a second, disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. The Beowolf looked completely confused when instead of flesh, its claws were stuck on wood.

A soft chuckle left the man's lips as he drew out a long-ranged gun while he was up in the air and fired at the confused Grimm, killing it instantly before bringing out another similar looking gun from his weapons belt and targetting the others.

By the time he had landed, he had taken out several of the Beowolves. Those who were left did not waste anytime on mourning, but lunged at him, red eyes full of the intent to kill for sport. Without any hesitation, the man reattached both his guns back onto the belt and jerked out twin katanas that he used to cleanly slice through the remaining Beowolves.

Within mere seconds, the Beowolf pack already disintegrated into dust just as the man withdrew his swords, sliding them back into their sheaths, which were separately attached to both sides of the weapons belt that held up his sky blue dyed denim pants.

But before the man could allow a grin of victory to etch on his lips, his Scroll began to vibrate and sound alarmingly. He whipped the device out of his jacket's pocket and answered the call without even looking at the Caller ID. "Yes?" He asked as a greeting.

"Ethan Kenway!" The snotty yet well-meaning voice of Weiss Schnee filled his ear as the Scroll relayed her voice from her own. "Where are you right now?"

Ethan uncovered his hood, revealing his messy black hair, and awkwardly replied, "I'm here at... Mountain Glenn?"

Weiss wasted no time in scolding him. "Mountain Glenn?! You were supposed to wait for the rest of us, not go on ahead and begin the mission by yourself! What are you, a lone wolf, unable to trust his friends?"

The young adult chuckled nervously at her outburst, before saying, "Fine, fine, I'll wait for you guys. I was just scouting, that's all.""Come back here this instant!" The ex-heiress shrieked into the Scroll. "Neo signed to us that she was not happy with your cloning trick that you pulled off probably before leaving, so hurry up here before she tears up the whole place!"Ethan sighed an "Okay," before hanging up and pocketing his Scroll once more. He took one more look around the desolate ruins known as Mountain Glenn, and closed his eyes, feeling the bleak wind against his face.

The peaceful moment was cut off by the growl of an Ursa, and once Ethan opened his eyes, he realized another horde of Grimm was approaching, having sensed his presence. Taking out his katanas once more, he took in a deep breath before pressing a button on the hilt of his swords, which allowed electricity to cover the blades' surfaces. "Reclaiming Vale was harder than I thought it'd be," He mumbled to himself as the first Grimm began its attack.

 _But it wouldn't be as hard as the events that happened before, right?_

 _Right?_


	2. The Beginning of the Beginning

**Chapter 1: The Beginning of the Beginning**

-/- Real World -/-

/-/ Some months before Chapter 0 /-/

"Oof!" Ethan Kenway, twelfth grade student, yelped as he accidentally bumped into someone else on his way home. The other person, a brown-haired woman in white, fell rump-first on the sidewalk, groaning in pain before she looked up and quickly said, "Sorry!"

The black-haired boy shrugged and offered her a hand. "Honestly, I think I should be the one to apologise." He said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

The lady smiled as she accepted his help, dusting off her stark white dress once she stood up. "Well, thank you," She replied, sighing. "There aren't really many youngsters these days who are polite enough to lend a hand to some old woman like me."

Ethan laughed nervously, saying, "You don't look that old, ma'am." The woman only chuckled and nodded at him. "I must go now," She said, thanking the boy once more for his help. "I have business to attend to. Have a nice day!"

"You too," The sixteen-year-old replied as she walked away. While he resumed his walk home, he couldn't help but feel that the woman seemed eerily familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere else before.

As the woman herself walked onward without any location in mind, she thought about the boy earlier and smiled. "He'll do," She said to herself, almond brown irises changing to silver with a blink of her eyes as she suddenly faded away without a trace.

"I'm home!"

The only reply to Ethan's declaration was the happy bark of his Labrador retriever as he closed the door and pried his sock-clad feet out of the rubber shoes he had been wearing for almost half of the day.

Putting his shoes into the rack, Ethan was greeted by his dog trotting over, her tail wagging with delight, and the handwritten note on the dining table nearby, presumably left by his father.

Ethan picked up the note, sighing as he read the contents. As you know, your mother and I have a business trip today, so we left after you did. Dinner is in the fridge, and stay safe. -Dad, read the small piece of paper. The boy rolled his eyes, and placed the note back on the table, heading straight for his room, his dog following suit.

The room given to him was enough for the furniture he needed the most. A wooden shelf was beside the small single bed, containing various cases of DVDs and games, as well as the few books on top; Ethan's well favoured computer table held more of the things, including his computer, which was ready for use.

Upon placing his bag on top of his bed, Ethan turned on his computer and sat on the provided desk chair as he opened up a folder and clicked on one of the videos, which was labelled Chapter 2: Remembrance. His dog curled up just beside the desk, letting out a yawn as "Let's Just Live" began playing.

In the past few months, Ethan had gotten hooked to the popular web series known as RWBY, going as far as to call it his favourite (though it was always behind Naruto in his list of favourite anime). Bored while waiting for Volume 5 to hit the Internet, he had taken to re watching the 4th Volume starting the day before. Always the one who yearned for happy events, Ethan hated the twist of events that came from the finale of the 3rd Volume, and was secretly wishing he could rewrite such events.

Halfway through the Chapter, Ethan felt a dizzy spell coming upon him. Whether it was from the stress of school or the fact that he was watching something on his computer while the light in his room was off, he didn't know. Like those who felt such dizziness, he soon blacked out.

When he awoke, Ethan really thought his eyes were still shut, and blinked a few times to make sure he was fine. Getting up, he glanced around the pitch black void that he was in, utterly confused as to how he got there.

"Ah, I've been waiting for you," A voice echoed through the void, and Ethan turned around to see the woman he had bumped into earlier. She looked the same as when he had met her, but she was now sporting dark crimson hair and metallic silver eyes. The woman smiled sweetly at him, before saying, "I believe you know who I am."

The young man's jaw hung slightly ajar, eyes widening in surprise as he stuttered, "Y-y-you're... No way, how?" His mind was completely out of suggestions as to why she was standing in front of him, and it sure did show on his expression and in his words.

In front of his eyes was Summer Rose, a Huntress who died due to unknown reasons. She was Ruby's mother... And a fictional character. How and why was she here... And how in Oum's name was this possible?!

"It's... Complicated, to say the least," Summer answered the stuttering boy's question. She took a few steps forward and cupped his cheek with a pale hand. "But you do feel me, no?"

Ethan could only nod slowly, taking in the warmth that radiated from her palm and fingertips, before the silver eyed Huntress chuckled at his look, taking her hand back. "I've watched you these past months, learning about how your world works, and after a while, I came to the conclusion that you are the only one who can help my world," Summer stated, a faraway look forming in her eyes. The light copper-skinned boy tilted his head slightly in inquiry.

"Your world... It's Remnant, am I correct?" The woman nodded in reply. "W-why me? You could have picked someone else, right?" Ethan asked. Summer looked gravely at him in the eye. "Young man, if I wanted someone else, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all," She said somewhat darkly, giving him the shivers as he understood what she meant.

"Besides, I have seen what you can do in your world, and I trust in the belief that you can do even more than that. You just lack the power to do so." The sad look in her eyes persisted as she spoke. "My daughter is capable, yes, but I think she needs someone to help her do so. Even with her friends, she cannot overcome the enemy that is her." Summer spat out the last word like venom as she looked away, though there was a hint of sadness that Ethan detected in it.

The woman turned to him once more. "That is why I chose you for this job. I know this is a lot to take in, but please, consider it. Will you take this offer and save Remnant?" She asked, her tone and look becoming more pleading and desperate.

 _'Save Remnant from Salem while you bring Team RWBY back together? That's totally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!'_ Ethan thought, and he could not restrain himself from smirking as he answered, "I will."

Summer's expression evidently brightened at his reply. "Very well. I will now provide you with what you need," She said, waving her hand in a swift motion as an electric feeling made itself known in Ethan's body, fuelling him with something he could not find familiar at all. "There. I have given you something that you might find familiar." She explained, and immediately the young man knew what it was: Chakra.

Ethan quickly gasped in excitement, before the realisation struck him. "Wait, so how do I use it?" He asked, earning a small giggle from the woman in front of him. "Here," She came over and lightly flicked at his forehead, stimulating a painful feeling in his body as information flooded into his mind all at once. He cried out in response, before he groaned, "Wasn't there a better way to give it to me?!"

"Either that or you'll take years to learn and master them," Summer bluntly answered, placing a hand on her hip. "Now try using a technique." Ethan nodded and began to concentrate, succeeding as a swirling vortex engulfed him.

Once the vortex dissipated, he was dressed in new clothing. His school uniform was replaced with a white t-shirt and dark blue denim pants, while his feet were now adorned with black sneakers. As a finishing touch, he was also sporting an obsidian coloured jacket with small blue stripes on the sleeves.

Summer whistled in an approving manner. "Nice. You've got a great sense of fashion." Ethan laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck in response. He was not used to getting complimented, especially by a female. "And now we'll turn to the other important things: your weapons."

As soon as she said it, the weapons began to materialise in Ethan's hands, becoming a katana with a blue and black handle and a handgun. He grinned and put them away, attaching both weapons on his leather weapons belt. "What else?"

"Well, aside from chakra, you have your own Aura and Semblance. And after that..." Summer trailed off, closing her eyes as she tried to recall what other things she was to give to Ethan, a fist landing against the palm of her other hand when she remembered. "Ah! And your companion. You can take one person along with you in this journey."

His thoughts soon scanned through lists of possible people before he answered, "I have someone in mind, but she's gone." The Huntress nodded in understanding, and without a word, she took Ethan's hands into hers, clasping them tightly before letting go. The boy almost jumped in surprise when he saw the marks of a sun and moon etched separately onto his palms.

"Use these to revive your companion. And also-" Summer had another pleading look etched on her gentle features- "please use them as well to give Yang her arm back." Ethan glanced up from looking at his hands, nodding in reply.

"Well, time to get going!" She snapped her fingers and then pointed to a materialising door nearby. "That will take you out of here and into Remnant." The boy slowly walked towards the direction of the door before he paused, turning back to ask her something. "You... Can't come along, can you?"

Summer nodded sadly. "I have already ceased to physically exist in my world," She explained. "When I am present in Remnant, only you can see me."

The boy sighed in disappointment, before he gave her a determined look filled with courage. "I won't let you down, Summer," Were his last words before he confidently swaggered from through the door and into the world of Remnant.

The former Huntress watched as he left, the door dissipating after his exit. A tear unwittingly trickled down her cheek before she wiped it away. "I wish you luck, Ethan."

-/- The ruined CCT Tower at Beacon Academy, Vale -/-

"Really. Of all places it led to, it just had to be here..."

This was what left Ethan's lips after looking around him. It almost freaked him out to see the frozen yet still alive Grimm Dragon, especially now that he was really in Remnant. "Welp, let's get down to business," He said to himself as he put his hands together and shouted out, "Six Paths: Pure Revival!"

Quickly as he said it, dust began gathering to form a swirling vortex. Ethan grinned in excitement as the dust took the shape of a person-and became the person.

Red hair in a ponytail, green eyes, Spartan-like armour, and lightly sun-tanned skin described the confused girl who was now kneeling in the exact position she was in just minutes before her death: Pyrrha Nikos.

When her eyes caught sight of Ethan, panic overwhelmed her and she shrieked, "W-who are y-you?!" Before the young man could answer her, familiar screeches echoed in the distance. The two of them looked up to see three large Nevermores circling around the ruined tower. "Aw, just my luck," Ethan mumbled before he got into position. Glancing at the very confused Pyrrha, who had just got up, he calmly said, "Introductions later, I'm going to take care of these birds!"

"Are you insane?!" Was Pyrrha's shocked answer, bright green eyes widening at the declaration. "You can't beat a Nevermore by yourself, let alone three of them!"

Ethan only smirked in response before a sharp pain shot through his eyes, forcing him to close them.

Opening them once more, Pyrrha-who decided to take a closer look at the stranger with her-gasped as she saw his eyes turn from blue to red, with the pupils replaced by a black four-pointed pin wheel that was attached to a four-pointed shuriken.

"You now have the Mangekyou Sharingan with all of its abilities. Use its visual powers to guide you," Summer's voice echoed in his mind, earning a smirk from the boy. "Thanks Summer," He whispered, his sharingan beginning to spin. "Stay back," He warned the redhead, who hesitantly did so.

"Time for me to level the playing field; Susano'o!" Ethan shouted out, and a blue ghostly skeleton's upper body started to form around him. Since it was his first time using such power, he felt like his body was on fire. Behind him, Pyrrha was looking in awe at the raw power she was witnessing.

The Susano'o created a crossbow and simultaneously shot three bolts at the three Nevermores, killing them instantly as they dissolved into nothing. Ethan let the construct fade, smirking. "That wasn't so bad," He said before turning to Pyrrha, who unconsciously took a few steps back, which was natural as she didn't know this person in front of her or how she was alive in the first place.

"Pyrrha?" Said girl had a scared expression etched onto her features, her body tensing as she heard her name being called from this stranger. "H-how do you know my name?" She asked shakily. Ethan gave her a soft smile, trying to ease the tension. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that," He answered, before he reached his hand out for a handshake. "But my name's Ethan."

Pyrrha hesitantly shook his hand with hers, still dubious about trusting the boy. Looking around, she almost tripped when she saw the frozen Grimm Dragon, but regained her balance with Ethan's help. "W-what happened? How am I alive-" She gasped upon realising something. "My friends! I-I need to go to the-"

"Wait, Pyrrha," Ethan held her by her arms, restraining her from moving any further. "I know you're worried, but we can't head over to your friends now. I called you back because of something I need help with. It's my mission," He said, looking at her in the eye as to let her know he was being serious.

Bright green eyes locked with dark sapphire orbs, and Pyrrha noticed how Ethan's voice sounded. It was serious and pleading at the same time. It was the same kind of voice she used before she sent Jaune off...

She nodded slowly, earning Ethan's grin. "Thanks," He said, letting go of her. 'So far, so good,' Ethan thought, before he was confronted with another problem when he surveyed their surroundings once more. "Umm... Pyrrha?"

"Yes, Ethan?" The redhead answered, unable to restrain herself from raising an eyebrow as the boy turned to her again with a sheepish look on his face.

"Do you know a way down?" Was his question.

The girl could only face palm in reply.


	3. Reigniting the Fire

**Chapter 2: Reigniting the Fire**

-/- Beacon Academy's main courtyard, Vale -/-

After a probably hilarious trek down the CCT Tower, Pyrrha followed Ethan to the courtyard of the Academy, her figure covered by a grey cloak that her companion had somehow produced out of nowhere. Looking around at what was left of the Academy after the Fall, she sighed sadly, silently mourning the place that she once called home.

"C'mon Pyrrha, we need to hurry," Ethan said when he noticed she was slowing down as they walked through the courtyard, taking a quick look around their surroundings. He was also wearing a cloak similar to hers, and Pyrrha was itching to ask why.

So she did. "Ethan? Why... Are we wearing these?" She inquired, complete with a slight tilt of her head. The boy let out a deep breath, before he replied, "Well, yeah. I mean, a lot of people think you're dead, so we need to hide you for a while."

"But in a place like this... Is it really necessary?"

"Ehhh..." For the first time since he had arrived in Remnant, the teenager was at a loss for words, before he managed to think further and said, "You'll see." It was probably a good thing that he wasn't facing Pyrrha as they walked on, because he sure didn't want to show her another sheepish look like the one he had given her earlier when he asked if she knew a way down the Tower.

They were quiet for a while as they walked, with Pyrrha still sceptical of her companion. He had told her nothing except his name, yet he knew hers before she even said it. Also, he claimed that he was on a mission, with her as his partner, but he hadn't explained what the mission was or how in Dust's name did he revive her. She was pretty sure that Cinder had shot her straight in the heart...

"Y'know, if you want to ask me something, go ahead," Ethan suddenly said, without even looking at Pyrrha, who was startled by the statement. How did he know she was thinking about that?

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to tell me what's your mission, that's all," She answered, shyly hiding her hands behind her back. This was very unlike Pyrrha Nikos... But then again, everything she had done during the Fall was a bit unlike her.

Her partner grinned, glancing at her quickly. "I was hoping you'd say that," He remarked, before he plunged into the explanation. "You see, after the Fall, Team RWBY separated. It's part of my job to bring them back together."

"Wait, they split up ways?!" Came the astounded comment from the redhead. Ethan nodded. "Yang's with her dad in their place at Patch," He continued. "During the Fall of Beacon, she lost her right arm when she was protecting Blake from an enemy. She's pretty dejected now."

Pyrrha quietly pondered on what he had said about Yang, worrying for her friend.

"Blake... She ran off to Menagerie after saving Yang from the enemy and getting on board the last airship departing for Vale. The professors had to conduct a mandatory evacuation of the remaining students in Beacon who stayed to fight off the Atlesian mechas. When she left, Sun went after her." Ethan could tell that Pyrrha was beginning to worry even more, but because he promised an explanation, here he was. They were farther away from Beacon now, travelling through the woods.

"Weiss went home with her father, who thought it'd be safer for her to be in Atlas rather than in Vale. Ruby, well, being the determined person she is-as well as the last person to see you alive-is travelling to Mistral with your Team. They believe they can get answers once they reach Haven Academy." The young man stopped in his tracks as he and Pyrrha reached the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest, with the latter recognizing the place as where initiation took place.

Ethan glanced at her, noting a small hint of hope in her eyes, which he figured was from the thought of being able to see Jaune and the others very soon. He smiled softly, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. His gesture was received with a similar smile and a "So, where to first?"

"Patch. We're retrieving Yang," Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "And how are we getting there?" She asked, just as Ethan bit his thumb quite sharply, drawing a small amount of blood from the wound, and began to make unusual hand signals. "Ethan, what are you-"

" _Summoning Jutsu!_ " The teen smacked the whole palm of his hand onto the ground, producing several symbols on the grass that looked like they were written by a thick bamboo brush. Pyrrha's eyes squinted as a cloud of white smoke spontaneously poofed from the symbols. Opening them once more, she found a large-sized hawk cocking its head curiously at her.

Without a word, Ethan got on the large bird, looking at Pyrrha with a raised eyebrow. "You riding or what?"

Mouth slightly ajar, Pyrrha could only climb onto the hawk's back, and scream a little as she hugged Ethan's waist from behind while the hawk lifted up into the air and began to fly towards Patch.

-/- Patch, Vale -/-

Hours after they had left Beacon, Ethan finally caught sight of the near island of Patch, nudging the napping Pyrrha gently. "Hey, we're almost there."

Pyrrha stirred from her short nap, head peering from behind Ethan to see the island. The bleak wind blew against their faces, and the former star student was glad that she kept her cloak on. Her companion, on the other hand, was doing fine even though he had discarded his cloak just before he got on the hawk, as he had his jacket.

After a few more minutes, the bird landed in the outskirts of the city. The place was filled with trees, and luckily there was no one in sight to see the hawk poof into nothing after Pyrrha and Ethan got off, though Pyrrha seemed quite mind-blown by the experience.

"What?" Ethan asked after he had petted the hawk just before it dissipated, seeing a blank look on his companion's face. Pyrrha realized he was staring at her and shook her head, muttering, "I am never getting used to this..."

The walk to Patch was quiet, with Pyrrha lost in thought and Ethan focusing on finding a path to the port city. Just as they reached the city, the redhead's stomach grumbled loudly, startling both of them and other passerby.

"Someone's starving," Ethan commented, looking around for a place where they could grab some food, finally settling on the stall called _A Simple Wok_. He tugged on Pyrrha's arm and they made their way to the food stall, with him ordering two bowls of noodles.

A memory flashed through the former Huntress-in-training's mind, which led to her nervous question, "Are you sure we can afford these, Ethan...?" Her partner smiled at her, fishing a few Lien out of his pants pocket and waving them at her before handing them over to the shopkeep.

The two of them ate in peace, and thankfully they both managed to finish the ridiculously large amount of food placed in the bowls. Just as Pyrrha swallowed her last mouthful of noodles, Ethan caught a glimpse of someone familiar and gestured quickly for Pyrrha to pull over the hood of her cloak before doing the same with his jacket, which, thankfully, had a hood as well.

The redhead was utterly confused until a new costumer-a blond-haired man-came into the stall ordering takeout. The man looked somewhat familiar to her until she realised it was Yang's father, Taiyang Xiao Long.

"Tai!" Another new costumer called out, a grin on his face as he took a seat beside the standing blond. "Getting some takeout, eh?" Taiyang chuckled nervously, nodding his head quickly in response.

Ethan and Pyrrha remained silent as the conversation continued, both trying to look very interested in their almost empty bowls. Ethan wondered if he could have seconds-he still felt a little bit hungry even after eating a large amount of noodles; Pyrrha awkwardly tapped at her bowl with her wooden chopsticks.

As the shopkeep delivered the ordered takeout to the waiting Taiyang, the man asked, "How's Yang? She doing fine?" At this, the hooded duo perked up while Taiyang only sighed as a reply. "She's... Alright, I guess." That was all he said before grabbing the takeout and leaving the stall, not without a quick goodbye to the costumer with whom he was talking with.

After Taiyang had left, Pyrrha took off her hood, looking at Ethan with a hopeful expression. "Do you think they were referring to the Yang?" She asked quickly as Ethan removed his hood and shrugged.

"I don't know," He replied, getting up from his seat and began heading towards the direction where he saw Taiyang go off, his companion immediately following after him. "But I do intend to find out."

A mental note Ethan made while he and Pyrrha were stalking Taiyang was that the teenager had to work on his stealth or on masking his presence, because the blond seemed to sense that someone-or some people-were following him. The older man wasn't a Huntsman for nothing, and after the fifth time he had looked behind his back and saw nothing out of the ordinary, he was feeling the signs of irritation.

Another mental note was: beware of dog, also known as the adorable and well-trained Zwei.

As soon as Taiyang had reached the close perimeters of his house, he whistled for the black and white corgi to come out of the house and sniff out the area. Catching sight of the dog running on his little legs towards his master, Ethan immediately understood what was going to happen and quickly looked around, spotting a large tree nearby and pulling Pyrrha with him to it.

"What are you doing?" Pyrrha asked nervously as Ethan motioned for her to climb up. The black-haired teenager, in panic, whispered, "Climb up! Zwei's going to sniff us out!"

The former Huntress-in-training awkwardly began climbing up the trunk and hide in the foliage with her companion, who was out of breath and seemingly jumpy. His current panicky attitude reminded her of Jaune, which brought a sad mood about her as she remembered her team leader-

"Arf! Arf!" A loud and alarming bark sounded as Zwei, unfortunately for the two, found them and began alerting his master of their presence, jumping up in futile attempts to get them down. As the corgi was small, it seemed quite comical to the unknowing eye. Both Ethan and Pyrrha sweatdropped, but dared not to make a sound until...

Thud! A strong and sudden force hit the trunk of the tree, which shook the hiding teens out of the leaves and branches, and onto the hard grassy ground. The teens yelped in surprise as they crashed onto the grass.

"Owww..." Ethan groaned, sitting up slowly as he rubbed his back. "You okay Pyrrha?" He asked the wincing redhead, who only managed a nod of her head as a reply while she sat up as well. Zwei was nearby, growling and barking at them with hostility, his tiny tail raised up in alarm.

"Who's there?!" Taiyang's voice thundered, and Ethan heard footsteps coming closer to where he and Pyrrha were. There was no use in running; they had a goal to complete and Zwei already caught their scent.

The only thing that the two of them could do was gulp nervously as Taiyang, wearing somewhat familiar shotgun-gaunlets, discovered them. Luckily, Pyrrha was still wearing her cloak, which hid her identity from the already suspicious blond.

"Who are you?" The older man asked in a not-so-polite tone. The two teens were silent, so he prepared to fire at them again when Ethan-in panic-exclaimed, "Don't shoot! We're looking for Yang Xiao Long and we overheard you and someone else talking about her so we followed you and-and-" He faltered, unable to say anything else.

Taiyang sighed, lowering his gaunlets. Pyrrha could only look at her jumpy companion in disbelief, completely surprised with his reply. (When looking back on that moment, she'd look at Ethan for a while and wonder how in Oum's name did that incident happen.)

"So you're looking for my daughter, huh," The blond clarified, before calling Zwei back to his side and motioning for the teens to follow him back to the house. "Well, you could have just come up to me."

Ethan, while helping Pyrrha up on her feet, replied, "You'd probably think us crazy or something if we did so." Taiyang chuckled, only nodding his head in agreement as they arrived at the house.

Yang glumly sat on her bed, hand clutching a photo of her with her sister, Weiss, and Blake, as she lingered on memories long past. Why did everyone leave her nowadays? Was she not worth their time, their effort, their friendship? She thought they were worth her own, but she was wrong to think that she was worth theirs.

The cloudy little dragon sighed sadly, tears threatening to form in her eyes as once happy memories flashed through her eyes before a more painful one began to resound over and over again in her mind.

She could see those hidden eyes burning with spite, hatred, digust-

"Yang!" Her dad's voice echoed through the house as he came inside. "Yang! You have some... Uhm... Visitors!"

 _What? Visitors?_ Yang immediately hid the photo of Team RWBY under her pillow before she stood up, cautiously making her way down the stairs. However, the events that followed once she stood still at the last steps of the stairs was just too good to be true.

"Yang Xiao Long?" An unfamiliar male voice addressed her, and it belonged to a light-brown skinned guy with unkept, black hair and piercing dark blue eyes. Beside him was a hooded figure, whom she didn't find familiar as well. Her dad was by the doorway to the kitchen near the stairs, arms crossed, with Zwei panting by his side.

"Yeah, that's me," Yang replied, still cautious of the boy who had addressed her. The guy sighed in relief, before saying, "We're here to ask you something." The darker blonde haired girl raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, we?" She asked suspiciously.

It was at this moment the hooded figure removed their hood, and Yang's purple eyes widened in shock as familiar bright green orbs met her gaze. Red hair in a ponytail, missing a golden circlet around her forehead... Oh Dust.

Pyrrha smiled nervously at her, waving shyly, "Hello again!"

"Pyrrha!" Immediately, Yang lunged towards the redhead, wrapping her friend in a quick one-armed hug. "Y-you're... You're alive!" She pulled back, tears almost trickling down her cheeks. "But how?"

"It's... Complicated," Pyrrha replied, almost flinching once she saw the missing arm, its stub covered by Yang's gray long-sleeved short jacket. "You... You really lost it..." The redhead trailed off, unable to say anything else. Her friend only looked down sadly, nodding slowly.

Pyrrha's companion stepped towards Yang, clearing his throat as to gain her attention. "If... If you had a chance to get your arm back, would you?"

"I still don't know who you are," Yang answered, her eyes slightly narrowing at him. He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck in an awkward motion. "My name's Ethan. Ethan Kenway. Can you answer my question now?"

Yang thought for a while, glancing at her lost arm before looking at Ethan straight in the eyes and replying, "Yeah. I would."

"Would you believe me if I told you I could help you get it back?"

"That's... That's impossible," The dragon looked at her dad, who shared a similar surprised look in response to Ethan's inquiry. "You can't regenerate limbs."

"Well, I can," He said, and upon seeing Yang's skeptical look, he answered, "I can give it to you. I mean, I was instructed to."

"By who?"

"I... Can't say. But hey, just... Trust me, okay?" Yang looked at Pyrrha, who only shrugged, then at her dad, who did a similar action, before she turned to Ethan with a sigh. "Fine. How?"

The teen showed her his palms, which had the separate etched marks of a sun and a moon. "Remove your jacket," Was his first instruction. She immediately shrugged off her jacket, showing him her lost arm.

"Now, embrace yourself. This may sting, but when it's over, I assure you, you'll be feeling great," He placed both hands on the stub, muttering something inaudible under his breath. Soon, his hands glowed softly as a white cocoon-like thing began to grow from the stub, becoming as long as her previous arm... Then it began to sting like hell.

You know those times when you get a hell of a wound and someone just has to fuss over it, dropping pints of hydrogen peroxide on your open wound to clean it? Yeah, that was how Yang felt as the healing process began.

Both Taiyang and Pyrrha were alarmed, and the older dragon was about to take a step forward when Ethan-still holding onto Yang's stub, warned, "Stay back!" Yang only gritted her teeth, enduring the pain. She did have a Semblance that exploited pain, and if something went wrong, she could always punch Ethan where the sun didn't shine with all the pain she absorbed from this.

After a few minutes, the pain subsided, and Ethan removed his hands from her upper arm. The cocoon then dissolved into dust, revealing a perfectly healed arm. Yang gasped in surprise, a grin slowly forming on her lips as she tested her arm by forming a fist then opening her hand.

"This is so-owww..." Yang slightly winced as the pins and needles made themselves known, since her arm was still beginning to function once more. Everyone else-sans Ethan-was speechless, until Yang looked up at Ethan, whispering hoarsely, "Thank you."

"Eh, it was nothing."

"No, that was something!" Taiyang suddenly exclaimed, startling the teenagers. "You managed to give Yang back her arm... How?"

"I... I can't really say why," Ethan faltered, sighing sadly as the marks on his palms began to fade away, having served their purposes. "But it's a one-time thing, so..." He turned to Yang, saying, "Congratulations, you are now-"

"ARMed and ready!" Yang cheered, earning comically disapproving looks from Pyrrha and Taiyang, who was mumbling something under his breath as he facepalmed, though Ethan caught, "Damnit Yang..."

"Actually, I was going to say, you're now reARMed," The boy said, smirking as Yang began laughing while the others only groaned at the arm jokes. "Well, I gotta-" The sunny little dragon held out her healed hand-"HAND it to you Ethan-"

"Alright! Enough arm puns before the house gets blown up," Both Ethan and Yang childishly whined and pouted when Taiyang cut them off, while Pyrrha giggled lightly at the fun scene. She had a feeling there wouldn't be a lot of happy scenes like these in the future.

"Let's head over to more serious matters," Taiyang said after everyone was seated in the living room, giving off a solemn aura as he turned to Ethan. "You came here to give my daughter's arm back, but I'm guessing that there's something else that you want to discuss with Yang, no?"

"Yeah," The boy nodded in emphasis to his answer. "There is something I have to do that requires Yang's help." He looked at Yang, his dark sapphire eyes meeting her purple ones. "I need you to help me reunite Team RWBY."

"What?" The dragon asked in disbelief, looking at Pyrrha with a face that said, For real? The redhead only nodded in confirmation. Yang frowned, thinking for a while before she returned her gaze upon Ethan.

Looking at him, she was somewhat reminded of her sister: they had that same determined look on their faces when they had something important to do. The thought of her sister began to fill her mind, blacking out the negative thoughts of a certain Cat Faunus.

"Alright, I'll go with you guys," She decided, getting up from her seat and sighing. "I'll just... Get my stuff first." She then made a beeline for the stairs, and the three people downstairs soon heard a door opening and closing.

"Hm, is that all?" Taiyang looked at the boy, raising a brow. Ethan shurgged, "More or less." The boy didn't want anyone else-much more Taiyang-to know that he had knowledge about the Relics, Maidens, and even Salem. It'd be too alarming.

In a few minutes, Yang came down the stairs, wearing a tan jacket with an orange crop top underneath, black fitted-pants, and dark brown boots. She had a backpack slung behind her shoulder, the remaining inactive shotgun gaunlet known as Ember Celica on her left wrist, and a determined look on her face. "I'm ready. Let's go."

"Wait, Yang," Her dad interrupted, giving her a worried look. The blonde haired girl smiled softly and took a few steps forward to hug her dad tightly. The father and daughter hugged for a while before Taiyang pulled away, whispering, "Be careful."

Ethan and Pyrrha got up from their seats, nodding at Taiyang respectfully before they, as well as Yang, left the house, closing the door behind them. Taiyang only sighed, glancing at the whimpering Zwei, who was already beginning to miss his fiery mistress as much as he missed his younger sweets-loving mistress.

"They've got a long journey ahead."


	4. New Alliances and New Weapons

**Chapter 3: New Alliances and New Weapons**

-/- A forest near the Rose-Xiao Long house, Patch, Vale -/-

"So what's up with him?"

Pyrrha looked at her friend, an eyebrow cocked up in confusion. Yang nodded at Ethan, whose back was turned to them as he was searching for something he had not told the girls about. "What's up with this guy? He seems to know almost everything that we know, healed my arm like it was nothing, and somehow, managed to bring you back to life! Who is this guy anyway?"

The redhead was quiet for a while as Yang anxiously waited for her reply. "Well, he's someone I trust, that's what I know," Came the calm answer, with Yang frowning in doubt as she pondered on those words. _Who is this guy? Is he that trustworthy enough in order for Pyrrha to be able to trust him in a short time?_

"Hey Yang," Ethan's voice broke her away from her thoughts. "If you have any questions... You could ask me, you know?"

"Ah! Uhm..." The startled blonde only laughed nervously, but before she could ask anything, the trio entered into a wide, grassy plain free from the trees. Apparently, this was what Ethan was looking for, because after running to the center of the plain, he bit his thumb again and began making seemingly confusing hand gestures. Pyrrha immediately knew that he was summoning a hawk for transportation.

In a matter of seconds, a cloud of white smoke spontaneously poofed out once more, summoning the large bird again. Yang could not keep her jaw from falling slightly ajar as Ethan got on the hawk with ease.

"I know it's your first time, but please stop staring," The boy said, averting his eyes away from Yang's amazed gaze. "I'm... Not really used to being given surprised stares."

Pyrrha nudged her friend before she got on as well. Hesitantly, Yang followed her friend on board the hawk, which then began to flap its wings, taking off quickly. Not much to Ethan's surprise, Yang had a very different reaction to flying on a large bird in contrast to Pyrrha; once the strong gust of wind hit her face, she raised her arms up in the air and let out a scream. "Yahoooo!"

-/- Somewhere in the sky above Anima -/-

"Ethan, I forgot to ask!" Pyrrha yelled over the wind after a while, despite being the one closer to the boy on the bird. "Who's next?"

"Huh? Oh, we're heading to Atlas to get Weiss," Ethan replied, raising his voice as to make his words clear to Pyrrha. "But we're making a stopover first." Seeing a village in the distance, the boy guided the hawk to another isolated area not too far from said location.

"This place is close to Mistral, so why not meet up with Ruby first?" The redhead noted once the hawk had poofed back into nothing and she had a chance to look around when the trio entered the large village. "Well, we need to tackle the harder people first," Ethan answered, before explaining upon realizing that Pyrrha and Yang did not understand him. "In other words, we need to get Weiss and Blake first, since they're farther from Mistral than Ruby and the others."

"Alright," Yang stretched her arms. "That's fine with me. Anyways, Qrow said he was keeping an eye on Ruby." The black haired boy looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" All that he got was a nod before the blonde asked, "So... Ethan, what other stuff can you do?"

"Hm? I didn't catch you there," Was the reply. Yang sighed, before saying, "I mean, you were able to do a lot of unimaginable things, such as healing my arm, summoning a hawk, and even bringing back Pyrrha! What other stuff can you do? How can you do those?"

Ethan mysteriously smiled, before teasing, "You'll see." The blonde, much to his surprise, only hummed in thought.

The trio had entered the market district of the village while they were talking, and after some agreements, split up to find what they need. Yang went from stall to stall, looking for spare parts in order to recreate Ember Celica's other half; Ethan had nothing in mind to buy and was only browsing some swords and other weapons on sale; Pyrrha was looking for new weapons to use. However, none of them suited her style nor taste.

After some time, the three of them met up at a nearby inn. The leader of the group decided to address his companions first. "So, got everything?"

"Yep," Yang held out a bag of parts, answering, "For Ember Celica," when she caught a somewhat puzzled look on Ethan's face. Pyrrha nervously shook her head. "I... Couldn't find any replacements for Miló and Akoúo."

Ethan hummed thoughtfully before grinning. "Wait here," He said, leaving the two girls by the entrance to the inn. When he returned, he was bringing a sling bag that was slung across his body.

"What's that?" Pyrrha asked. The boy chuckled softly, "Some stuff I bought. We'll head over to a blacksmith later to get them fixed into your new weapon." Eyes and smile brightening immediately, the redhead offered many thanks to him, before Yang's stomach accidentally interrupted them with a growl.

"Whoops," Yang awkwardly laughed, before Ethan nodded to the entrance of the inn. "There's a great cafe inside, so why don't we check in for now and have something to eat?" Both girls nodded in unison as they followed him inside.

After checking in, and a hard time deciding on food, the trio were already halfway done with their orders when Yang decided to break the silence.

"Alright, so I have a few questions for you Ethan," Said boy froze involuntarily as the blonde spoke. Looking up, he forced a nervous smile on his lips. "Uhm... Sure, go ahead," He replied.

"Okay, first one: You brought Pyrrha back to life... And healed my arm-how did you just do those like they were nothing?"

Ethan gulped nervously before sighing. "It's... Really hard to explain," He began. "First of all, the power I use is chakra. Chakra requires an immense amount of both spiritual and physical power in order to use it at its real best, so you'd need years of training to accomplish feats like that."

"And this... Chakra was what you used to do those?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly, earning a guaranteed nod from Ethan. Yang, however, only narrowed her eyes. "I see. So what can you do with that kind of power?"

"That's where things get interesting," Ethan said. "Chakra can be used in order to perform elemental techniques that seem so extraordinary."

"Like ninjas?"

"Yeah, like ninjas..." The book [I]Ninjas of Love[I] immediately flashed through Ethan's mind as he answered, mentally sweatdropping at the word 'ninjas.'

"But doing the most impossible things... Chakra can really be used to do those?"

This was the hard part. _Think, think, think_ , Ethan yelled in his mind, trying to come up with a convincing answer. Yang and Pyrrha waited for his answer with bated breath, sighing in relief when Ethan was able to reply. (Honestly, they did not know why they were holding in their breaths, but it seemed the most natural thing to do when they were anxious for an answer from a mysterious boy whom they were questioning all sorts of things.)

"Well, those occasions only happen once," Ethan showed them his palms, which, since Yang had got her arm back, had no traces of the sun and moon marks. "The chakra I had for those things took out a lot of my energy, and they were specifically for reviving Pyrrha and giving your arm back."

"Oh..." Was all that the two girls could say. Pyrrha decided this was the time, and took in a deep breath, releasing it as she said, "Well then, thank you, Ethan, for all that you've done."

"It was all I could do," Ethan replied, averting his gaze from the girls. "I mean, you guys deserved second chances."

"Speaking of us deserving second chances, how much do you know about us? About my sister? Our friends?"

"I can't say," He answered truthfully. If he said anything about how he really got to Remnant or anything else, he was screwed... Or at least, that's how he was feeling if he thought about it.

Yang and Pyrrha nodded in understanding. They had their own private shares of secrets, and they weren't willing to share them now. So if Ethan had his own secrets, then it was safe to say that no one should pressure him into sharing them.

"Alright," Ethan got up from his seat, leaving the Lien to pay for their meals on the table. "We need to go. Pyrrha's weapon isn't going to make itself."

"Over here," Yang pointed to a weapons shop-and-forge after a few minutes of her and the others searching for such a shop. "We can get Pyrrha's stuff made here. I used to frequent a branch of this back at Patch, so it's trustworthy."

"Hmm, alright," Ethan did not hesitate in pushing the wooden door open, hearing the bell above him tinkle in greeting as he and the girls entered the shop. They browsed around before a blacksmith approached them.

"Welcome, do you need something?"

"Uhm, yes, we do. My friend here-" Ethan motioned to Pyrrha, who shyly nodded at the inquiring blacksmith-"lost her weapons and needs new ones."

"Well, you've come to the right place," The blacksmith gestured to the nearby forge with his gloved hand. "I don't have any other commissions as of the moment, so I can get to work immediately. Do you have a certain weapon in mind?"

That got the leader of the trio grinning widely as he fished out a blueprint from the sling bag and gave it to the blacksmith, who nodded in approval as he studied the layout of the weapon. "What about materials?"

"In here," Ethan held up the sling bag. The older man sighed and said, "It'll take a week. Is that alright?"

"Fine by me. Thanks."

The trio exited the shop after landing a quick deal with the blacksmith. Just as Ethan was about to ask the girls if there was somewhere they'd like to go (remember, the village was large), Yang had disappeared from view.

"Wait, where'd she go?" Pyrrha asked Ethan, who only shrugged in reply as they searched for the sunny dragon.

Then, in the midst of the crowd, dark sapphire eyes found a pink-and-brown head, closely followed by a yellow head.

"Over there," Ethan grabbed Pyrrha's hand and began to track Yang down.

A sly grin twitched itself to life on Neopolitan's small lips as she readied her parasol for battle. Cornering her in an alleyway was her nemesis, the airhead blonde known as Yang Xiao Long.

But right now, Yang wasn't looking like an airhead, though she was still looking like a blonde (Neo couldn't help but let her smirk grow wider with that mental joke). The taller girl was looking... Yangry.

The advantage, Neo noted, that she had over Yang was that there was only one of those blasted shotgun gauntlets equipped on the blonde's person. Just a few kicks here and there, she'll be able to get out safe and sound in no time.

At least, that's what she thought, because once she took a step towards her opponent, who immediately readied her own weapon, Neo found that she couldn't move another step forward, nor could she breathe normally. _What the-_

"Yang, step aside," A male's calm voice echoed throughout the darkened alleyway, and Neo could not resist the urge to see the voice's owner with her own, mismatched eyes. "Are you kidding me, Ethan?! That's Neo! She's an enemy!" Yang's voice burst out at a jet black-haired boy with dark red eyes and... Handsome features?

 _No, no, no, erase THAT_ , Neo thought, gritting her teeth as she tried to move, but something invisible was holding her in place and she couldn't figure out what it was.

"Something bothering you?" The boy asked the petite pink-and-brown eyed girl, grinning a little. "Sorry about the restriction of your movements, but I'm currently using my Sharingan on you."

Sharing-what, what? Neo tried to growl at him, but he only ruffled her hair with a hand, a chuckle leaving his lips. "Yang, don't," The boy said upon hearing Yang load her gauntlet. "I've got this." He snapped his fingers in an instant.

The next thing Neo felt was her head spinning as the boy transported her somewhere else. Blinking her eyes repeatedly as to let herself know that she was still alive, she looked up and saw the boy with his hands in his pockets, staring at her in all solemnity.

Looking around, she realised that they were in one of Beacon's courtyards... Except that everything around them had the colors of red, black, and white. Fear surged through her heart and she glared at the boy in front of her for an explanation, still not trusting herself to scream out her objections.

"Welcome to my, uhm... Interrogation room. It's called Moon's Eye," The boy explained, smirking at her. "You'll have to answer all my questions if you want to get out of here."

All that he got was a feral growl from Neo, who grit her teeth and lunged at him, her parasol still in her gloved hand. She jerked her weapon, allowing the sharp tip of her blade to slide out of her parasol's ferrule, before thrusting it at the boy.

The boy dodged her attack and managed to grab the cloth part of her parasol, easily lifting it up-which also brought a startled Neo with it-without even getting cut by the blade. He slammed it down, resulting in Neo painfully falling on her rump.

"Now... Are you going to talk or what?" He demanded. Neo looked up at him defiantly, narrowing her eyes in a reply that meant "No."

He sighed, holding out a hand to her. Neo suspiciously raised an eyebrow at his gesture, before hesitantly putting her hand in his and getting up with his help. After dusting off the imaginary dirt on her pants, she crossed her arms, still looking at the boy with the look that said, "Can I at least know whoever you are?"

Much to her surprise, the boy understood her once more, and answered, "I'm Ethan. And I know your name is Neo, so can we get to more important matters now?" A still shocked Neo only nodded, her mouth slightly ajar as Ethan narrowed his red eyes which had weird, spinning pinwheels that replaced his pupils.

"You work with Cinder, no?"

Her first answer was a shake of the head. She narrowed her eyes at him to say that she _had_ worked with Cinder, but wasn't working with the devil of a woman _now_. The boy got her message and asked, "If I gave you a chance, would you work with us heroes? The good guys?"

 _Work with the good guys?_ Neo frowned at this proposal. She didn't want to switch jobs now; she was currently working as a bodyguard, and she was always paid with some good coin. What would she get out of this if she helped this guy? Definitely not money.

"Look, I'm not forcing you," Ethan said, trying to convince her. "I... Well, we need help. I need someone to look for certain people that may aid me and my friends. You're a criminal, which means you have connections which could help find these people."

"Kid, I think you've been watching too much TV," Neo snapped in an instant, managing to catch the black haired boy off-guard and earning a mumble with the words, "You do talk." The multicoloured girl didn't mind this, but continued on with her serious stare. "Just because I'm a criminal doesn't always mean I've got connections."

Ethan's face fell, and a pang went straight to her heart. Trying to cheer him up, she stuttered, "B-but you c-came to the right person... So... I-I'll h-help..." The hell, she was BLUSHING so hard. She hadn't stuttered and blushed like this in a long time!

Much to her initial discomfort (but to her later happiness), he brightened up. "Then you'll help us?" He asked with a hopeful tone, and she couldn't find the guts to say no. Neo nodded, though with a little more eagerness than she had planned to give away.

"Thank you..." The boy faltered, before he held out a list to her, saying, "You'll help us find these people, and tell me when you've got them. Deal?"

Immediately she took the list and unexpectedly shook his hand. "Deal. Now can you get me out of here?"

"All right... Just a sec..."

"Yang, we don't know that. She might just be a harmless person."

"Harmless? She was on the train that caused the Breach back in Vale! I fought her there! She worked with Torchwick, so she might know where our enemy is."

"But-"

"No buts! Trust me," Yang said, readying herself to fight, but stopped short of using Ember Celica when she saw Ethan shaking hands with Neo, just before the latter left via Semblance. She gave the boy a bewildered look, raising her eyebrows in confusion as she asked, "What... What just happened?"

"Hm? Oh, I managed to talk to her. She's... She's with us now." Ethan replied, a casual look on his face. "She'll be helping us find other people whom we need."

"That quickly?" Pyrrha asked, joining the conversation. Prior to Ethan and Neo exiting Moon's Eye, she and Yang had been arguing about whether Neo was part of the evil that they were fighting (since Pyrrha, nor any of her teammates, had ever seen Neo) or not. The special thing about Ethan's "interrogation room" was that time moved more quickly there than in the real world, so what seemed to be only five minutes or more in Moon's Eye were actually mere seconds in Remnant.

Ethan nodded, a small smile making its way onto his face. "Yeah. I have my methods."

Both Pyrrha and Yang weren't sure if they could ask him about his methods though.

-/- A week later... -/-

Pyrrha gazed in amazement as she tried to find words to describe her joy. In her hands was Miló, or, well, an exact replica of the javelin-like weapon. Instead of having its recognisable red and gold colours, it had black and silver tints to the metal. Despite that, it worked as perfectly as Miló itself. Her small shield had also been made again with its signature design, and shared the same new colours of her weapon.

"The metal you provided... Where did you get it? It was hard to break down before I managed to forge the weapons," The blacksmith inquired while Pyrrha tried out her weapon. Ethan shrugged, having an unusual dark look on his features as he answered, "You don't want to know."

"But I'll have to admit, it's a great metal for weapons," The blacksmith quickly replied upon seeing the dark look on the blue-eyed boy's face, which immediately changed into a brighter look when Ethan said, "That's why my weapons were forged with the same metal."

"Whoa, Ethan, you have actual weapons?" Yang asked in disbelief while the black-haired boy paid up for the weapons. He nodded, removing his katana from its sheath. Yang and Pyrrha looked on with wonder as they examined the blade of the sword, which had the same tint of colors as Pyrrha's new weapon.

As Ethan put away his katana, Yang, now with both of Ember Celica attached to her wrists, pumped her fists. "All right! Let's get going!" She yelled, before the trio left the shop, ready to head to Atlas.


	5. Reflection of the Mirror

**Chapter 4: Reflections From the Mirror**

-/- Schnee Manor, Atlas -/-

"I say we break in, then go all out!" Yang exclaimed

"Maybe we should just sneak in, get Weiss, then sneak out." Pyrrha argued

Both red and blonde heads turned to look at Ethan. "Sooo Ethan..." Yang started, catching the black-haired boy's attention. "What do you think we should do?"

Ethan hummed in response, closing his eyes as he contemplated on the choices. The girls gave him intent looks until he opened his eyes, saying, "We'll have to go with Pyrrha's plan. Weiss's place is obviously guarded, so we need to sneak in and out to get Weiss."

Yang pouted a little as her plan had not been accepted, but she decided to go with Pyrrha's plan anyway. Pyrrha only sighed in relief, while Ethan cleared his throat and said, "Now, shall we?"

"Let's go."

"Hell yeah!" Yang cheered, pumping her fists in the air, though her loud, cheery outburst was cut off by Ethan and Pyrrha shushing her just in time before someone noticed them hiding in the shadows of the Schnee Manor's courtyard.

-/-/-/-

In the cold and dreary yet elegantly furnished room of a certain former heiress, Weiss Schnee was preparing for her escape from the confines of the manor. Having finally perfected her Summoning Glyphs a few nights back, thankfully the repairmen and women were quick in replacing the window she broke, she was to meet her trusted butler Klein in the library, where apparently, he would get her out of the house and she would be free once more.

The excitement of freedom being so close to her grasp was fueling Weiss's determination to leave the Schnee Manor, despite the orders of her overbearing and poor excuse of a father that clearly stated she was not to leave the manor unless he permitted it. Weiss was not having any of that. She was an adult now, and could decide for herself completely.

 _Tap, tap._ The white-haired girl immediately turned her head to where the sound of tapping was coming from, and had to restrain herself from yelping loudly when she saw a boy knocking gently at her closed window. The look on his face was a bit frantic, and that only fuelled her urge to open the window and let him in.

It only took a few seconds to quietly and quickly open the window, letting a messy black-haired boy inside. Weiss stared at him with a raised eyebrow, before gasping in surprise as a familiar blonde-haired woman launched herself into the room with a small thud.

"Yang?!"

"Hey, Weiss!" Yang looked glad to see her, giving the former heiress a tight hug once while another girl-with an unmistakable red hair tied up in a familiar-looking ponytail-climbed into the room. "H-hello again!" The girl greeted.

"Gyaaah, P-Pyrrha?!" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief, rushing over to the redhead once Yang had let go of her. "Y-you're okay... I'm so glad!" Pyrrha smiled as Weiss embraced her tightly, wrapping her arms around the former heiress in reply.

"B-b-but how-" Weiss's question was cut off by Pyrrha nodding her head at the boy, who waved awkwardly when Weiss looked at him cautiously. "Okay, who are you?" She asked. "And how did you three get here?"

"Mmm... We flew all the way from Vale to Atlas by eagle-" Yang started, before she was cut off.

"What?! An eagle?!"

"Ehhh, we'll explain later. Anyhow, we got here by eagle, thought up of a plan to get you out, and here we are!" The dragon finished, stretching her arms upward as she looked at her male companion. "So, what's next?"

"We get out-" The boy began, but Weiss interrupted him by clearing her throat and asked, "You haven't answered my question yet: who are you?"

"I'm Ethan. Nice to meet you Ice Princess," The raven-haired boy named Ethan introduced himself, not minding Weiss's "Hey!" as he continued relaying the plan to the three girls. "We'll need an escape route."

Pyrrha carefully peeked her head out of the window, sighing as she saw a few guards outside about to inspect the vine that she, Yang and Ethan had utilised to get to Weiss's room. "We can't use the route we took to get here," She whispered, alarming Ethan and the others. "Damn it," Ethan muttered, before an idea came to him and he asked, "Hey Weiss, do you know another way out of here that won't attract the guards?"

However, the former heiress was silent, shaking her head in response. "But I was supposed to meet with my butler tonight in the library so I could leave this place. I think he knows a way out."

"Great, let's go-wait, you... You were escaping?" Yang asked in disbelief, having just seen Weiss grab the small suitcase lying on the white-haired girl's bed. Weiss sighed and answered, "I... It's a long story. I'll explain later."

"Fine by us," Ethan said, cautiously opening the door, beckoning the girls to follow him after he noticed that there were no guards present in the corridor. They quietly sneaked around the hallways, Weiss whispering directions to Ethan as they went on. Unfortunately, halfway through their trek across the the manor, they bumped heads with a certain butler who was making his way to Weiss's room.

Dark blue eyes met crimson red as Ethan froze in his place, effectively stopping his other companions from moving forward. In front of him was the butler Klein Sieben, who was in a certainly angry mood.

"Who are you?!" The butler's angry voice thundered albeit softly as not to attract any more attention. Weiss ran and positioned herself beside Ethan, a pale hand raised in an effort to placate her close friend. "Wait, Klein! Don't!" She cried. "He's-" She looked at Ethan, who nodded at her before she turned to look at Klein-"a friend. He and a few others came to help me get out."

The butler contemplated on this, then asked, "You'll be leaving, no?" A sigh left his lips when Weiss nodded, her grip on her small suitcase becoming tighter. "I'm sorry, but... I have to." "I understand," Klein said in a more gentle voice than earlier, his iris changing from red to light blue, amazing Yang and Pyrrha. "If you will follow me, I shall show you the way to the library."

-/-

The library, like the rest of the manor, had the solemn dark colours of blue and white all around, giving off a more dreary atmosphere than it should have. But no one had time to talk about the library when Klein had opened the secret passageway leading to the outside of the manor.

"Keep moving forward and you'll see the exit. There is a nearby airport where you can ride an airship out of here," The butler advised, and Ethan smiled tiredly. "Thanks," The black-haired boy said quietly. "I think we need that for now." "For now?" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head. "You could just summon a-"

"Wait, Pyrrha, I think he's tired," Yang cut her off, giving Ethan a concerned look. "So summoning an eagle is totally out of the question."

"I still can't believe that you got here by summoning an eagle as transport, but it's better if we get a move on before morning arrives," Weiss suggested in her usual manner. Yang snickered, shaking her head as they entered the passageway, mumbling, "Same old Weiss-wouldn't have it any other way."

Weiss was the last one to enter the passageway, wanting to say goodbye to her close friend. "Thank you Klein," She said. "I hope... I hope to see you very soon."

"I do as well, Miss Schnee," Klein replied, giving Weiss a fond smile. "And pass on this message to your friends, won't you? I overheard your father talking to General Ironwood in the study a while ago. It seems that the General is closing the borders of Atlas in a few weeks. No one will be getting in or out after that."

Weiss's eyes flickered in alarm. "I see. I'll inform them. Thank you." And with that, she ran off. Klein watched her join up with the other teens, then closed the passageway, before scurrying off to answer Whitley's recent summons.

-/-/-/-

Ethan struggled to keep his eyes open as he led the way to the airport that Klein had told them about. Inspecting his fellow companions, it seemed that even Yang and Pyrrha were also fighting off their sleep. Weiss was the only one who remained fully alert among them.

After a while, they reached the airport. The place looked like it wasn't in much use for the meantime. A few airships were present outside their hangars, apparently preparing for late night trips to deliver Dust and other important materials.

Weiss, who had been here whenever she went somewhere outside of the Manor in her early days, then took over the lead "You look like you can fall asleep within a few seconds," she had told Ethan after seeing his exhausted state. "I know this place, so let me lead the way. Trust me.". She kept the group awake, hissing numerous times at her bleary-eyed companions to stay alert.

Eventually they reached one of the airships, which was the only one whose pilots seemed wide awake at this time of the night. Instead of sleeping off their stress from work, the two of them-one Faunus and the other human-were playing cards when Weiss approached them. Ethan, Yang and Pyrrha, still able to keep their eyes open for the meantime, watched as Weiss talked with the pilots.

"Excuse me?" Weiss spoke up, gaining the pilots' attention. The two immediately dropped their cards and stood up from the crates that they were sitting on. "Y-yes? Can we help you, ma'am?" The human, a young woman with dark brown hair, asked.

"I need you to get us somewhere, without the permit of your superiors, unfortunately," The former heiress answered, earning a hearty snicker from the Faunus-a dirty white-haired fox-tailed man who somewhat reminded Ethan of someone-who crossed his arms. "Permit? Superiors? We just came here to make sure that some special delivery was okay, then we go anywhere after that."

The woman nudged him, but Weiss apparently didn't mind the casualty with which he addressed her, and gave them a small smile. "That's good. So can you take us?"

"To where?" The female pilot inquired.

"To..." The white-haired Atlesian looked at Ethan, who answered for her. "We need to get to Menagerie. You think you can fly us there?"

"Menagerie? The Faunus continent?" The brunette echoed with a straight face, before cracking into a smirk. "My partner is a dang Faunus! Of course we can take you kiddos there!"

"Thanks a lot," Ethan said, and simultaneously he and Weiss brought out a few Lien from their wallets. The pilots, upon seeing them bring out Lien, shook their heads earnestly. "You don't have to pay us or anything. We'll take you there, and nothing else," The Faunus pilot said. "We won't say anything to anyone who asks."

"Oh really?" His fellow pilot asked, mischievously raising an eyebrow. "You won't say anything about us giving a couple of kids a lift to Menagerie, not even to your mom or auntie?"

"Arrrgh, don't bring them into this," Was the irritated answer, complete with a feral growl, but instead of intimidating the woman, it only made her laugh. As her friend stalked off to check on the airship's fuel, she opened the entrance of the ship and beckoned for the four teens to enter.

"The flight's going to take a few days, so there are spare cots in there," She motioned to her right, where a built-in bunk bed and a few sleeping bags lay, as well as some personal items. "You kids look like you need the sleep, so feel free to use the bed. Loo's over there-" she pointed to a closed door nearby-"and do lock the door when you're using it."

"We appreciate your concern, but..." Pyrrha faltered, shyly looking at the woman. "May we know your names?"

"I'm Cola, and my partner is Vanilla," The pilot answered her. "But he hates it when anyone calls him by his real name, so just call him Van instead. Unless of course, you wanna tease him and all."

"I'm Ethan," Said boy introduced himself, nudging the others to give their names as well.

"Pyrrha."

"Yang."

"Weiss."

"Welp, glad to meet you kids too," Cola grinned again. As Van came inside the airship, she left the four to help prepare the airship for takeoff. Immediately Yang claimed the top bunk, with Pyrrha taking the bottom, and Ethan took one of the sleeping bags. Weiss, though not feeling too sleepy, also got a sleeping bag and laid it out beside Ethan's.

Soon, the airship took off into the night.

"I never got to say thank you," Weiss quietly said, after a while, when Yang and Pyrrha had fallen asleep. Ethan, who found that he could not sleep despite feeling sleepy a while ago and was just staring up the ceiling, looked at her, confused. "For what?"

"Well, for helping me get out." The white-haired girl gripped the sheets of the sleeping bag tightly. "I thought I was going to have to get out by myself, but then you, and Yang, and even Pyrrha came to help me. Speaking of which, how did you... You know, with Pyrrha..."

"It's a complicated topic." Was his answer. "But I have this power that allowed me to bring her back."

"Can the same thing be said for Yang's arm?"

"Yeah..."

The two of them were quiet for some time, listening to the gentle vibrating of the metal beneath them and the muffled conversation between Van and Cola in the cockpit nearby.

"Why are we going to Menagerie?"

"To get Blake. She's there with her parents and Sun."

"Huh, I never thought that I would be going to Menagerie in my life," Weiss said. "I should have a disguise or something, just in case they don't warmly welcome humans there."

"That's a good thing," Ethan yawned, and could not resist stretching his arms as the yawn left his body. "Well then, good night."

"It's almost morning, you dunce," Weiss snapped quickly, but she sighed and said, "But good night anyways."

-/-/-/-

-/- A few days later... -/-

"And I win."

"No! That can't be!"

"But it is! You activated my trap card, and now your army is down."

"Curses!" Yang moaned, her ego flattening.

"I told you Yang, one day, you were going to be beaten at this." Weiss only huffed, triumphantly grinning as Yang bemoaned the loss of her kingdom. The two of them, as well as a bored Van and Ethan, were playing _Remnant: The Game_ , while Cola had taken over pilot duty and Pyrrha was a quiet observer of the game.

"Seriously, you're quite good at this," Van commented before Ethan shrugged. "Maybe it's beginner's luck," Was the grinning raven-haired teen's answer.

"Beginner's luck or not, you managed to beat Yang," Weiss said. "Back at Beacon, no one was able to beat her except Neptune."

"Stop it Weiss!" Yang drawled sadly. "That guy won out of sheer luck, but it's clear that Ethan is skilled at this!"

"Either way, you lost, so deal with it."

"Weiss! I thought we were teammates-why have you forsaken me?!"

"You destroyed my army last time," Was the short reply. "And I am no Ruby."

"Even though!"

As the two teammates bickered with each other, the boys were left to pack up the board game. Pyrrha giggled quietly at the scene of Weiss trying to dodge multiple hug attempts from Yang, which went on for a few minutes before they were out of breath.

Van excused himself and went into the cockpit to check up with Cola. After a while, he came out and said, "We're halfway to Menagerie, but we need to land now. Fuel's low and Cola wants to stretch her legs and refill the ship. Fine with you guys?"

"Well, we won't be going anywhere if the ship's low on fuel," Ethan replied. "It's fine by us."

The Fox Faunus nodded in acknowledgement, then passed on the message to Cola before he turned his attention back to the guests. "Speaking of flying, is it okay if I ask you guys what you're planning to do in Menagerie?"

"We need to see a friend," Pyrrha spoke up from her place in the bunk bed. "From what we know, she's in Menagerie visiting family, and we have to talk to her."

"Oh, I see. Well, I hope you guys have a happy reunion."

"Tch." An unexpected snort came from Yang. Everyone turned to look at the dragon, who averted her gaze from any of them as thoughts of Blake filled her mind. "Happy my ass."

"Yang..." Pyrrha said slowly, but said blonde crossed her arms and cut the redhead off. "Blake left us. She abandoned us back in Beacon. The whole reunion thing won't be happy like a fairy-tale."

Ethan stepped towards her. "Yang, that's not true. You should listen to her side of the story before jumping to any conclusions."

"Whatever," Yang said uncharacteristically, her vibrant lilac eyes dulling by the second. "She promised us that if a problem came up her way, she'd come to us for help. But then a problem shows up, and what does she do? She runs away for freaking Oum's sake! She didn't go to us for help, she RAN from us."

"But Yang-" The raven-haired teen was cut off by her angered voice and bright red eyes, causing him to unconsciously take a step backwards.

"SHUT UP! You may know a lot about us, but you probably don't know the finer workings of our team. What gives you the right to tell me that I need to forgive her? Nothing! She didn't trust us enough to share her latest problems, so technically I don't trust her enough to hear her side of the story and think it's genuine. SO STAY OUT OF THIS!"

Her thundering voice silenced everyone present, and a heavy atmosphere reigned upon them until Cola's voice came on from the intercom, unaware of what had just happened. "I found a good spot to land on. Hold on tight guys!"

-/-

The moment that the airship landed on a wide plain and Cola had opened the entrance, Yang stormed off into the nearby woods to clear her thoughts. Everyone else watched her go, concerned looks on their faces.

While the pilots heaved out the extra fuel they had and refilled the tank, Ethan made up his mind to talk to Yang, but was stopped by a gentle pale hand that touched his shoulder. He turned to see Weiss, who had a look on her face that Ethan had never seen before.

"Let me talk to her." Was what she said. "She's my teammate."

The blue-eyed boy sighed. "Are you sure? She might not listen to you."

"That seems to be a risk that both you and I want to take just so that Yang could be convinced to forgive Blake," Weiss replied. "Besides, I was the one who made Blake promise that she'd come to us if she had any problems..."

The Volume 1 finale flashed through Ethan's mind in an instant after hearing her reply. Hesitantly, he nodded at her, and she gave him a small smile before walking off to find Yang.

Pyrrha walked up to him, the look of concern still evident on her face. "Do you think Yang and Blake will be able to make up?" She asked, earning an uncertain shrug from her friend. "Not sure," He answered. "But I hope so."

-/-

It only took Weiss a few minutes to look for her teammate. Yang's mood had begun to attract several Grimm in the area since she left the group, so when the former heiress's ears picked up the sounds of the golden dragon taking down the dark beasts, she rolled her eyes and ran to where her friend was.

Upon reaching Yang, the horde of Grimm had been eliminated, and the blonde was heavily breathing for air, sweat (or were they tears?) pouring down her face. The white-haired girl cleared her throat and walked towards her teammate. "Yang," She began slowly, but said currently red-eyed girl refused to listen to her or even look her way. Instead, the blonde began to scream in frustration and agony, letting out all of her pent-up emotions in the wild.

Weiss sighed, and waited until Yang was finished, giving her friend constant concerned looks as Yang yelled her lungs out.

When the dragon was finished, her knees gave way, causing her to sit on the ground and cry a little more. Weiss then sat beside her, placing a comforting hand on her back. "Hey. I know you're mad at her..."

"I still am."

"But so am I." That was what caused Yang to look at her as she continued talking. "I just have a different way of dealing with it. We all have different ways of dealing with our anger, our disappointment, our... Well... Other emotions." The two of them were then silent for a while, before Yang broke the silence with her thoughts.

"I hate it when people leave."

"Why is that?"

"Well... It's a long story." The blonde sighed sadly, but Weiss nodded her head, ready to listen, so Yang continued with her talk. "When I was born, my mother left me with my dad. I never knew her, or even saw her in person. The one who raised me was Ruby's mom, Summer Rose, and later she raised Ruby too. For a long time in my life, I thought she was my real mother.

"But... One day, she went on a mission-she was a Huntress-and never came back. My dad shut down and my uncle was gone for a long time, so an aunt of ours took it upon herself to take care of us until my dad returned to his senses, but I found that most of the time, I had to take care of Ruby.

"It was hard being both an older sister and a mother figure to her. She didn't even really understand what was going on in our family because she was too young to. All that she knew was that Summer was gone, Dad wasn't doing anything like his usual self, Qrow didn't visit most of the time, and Auntie was the one who was caring for us. That was it. And what made me more stressed out-if I knew back then what was stress-was the fact that Summer wasn't my real mom, and that my mom had left me long ago.

"A lot of questions popped up in my head when I found out about that. Why did my mom leave? What happened that she left? Why didn't she stay? Did she care about me at all? I asked my dad, Qrow, and even my aunt about her, but they didn't say much. I had to find out the answers for myself. And all the while, I felt so mad and so sad because she wasn't there for me-at all.

"Then Ruby and I got to Beacon, and met you and... And Blake. I understood the first time she ran off-and even the time when she tired herself out trying to look for Torchwick-but I can't understand why she ran off the second time. Why did she even run? We're her friends, for Oum's sake! We could help her against that bastard-but she ran away from us instead!" Tears spilled from Yang's eyes as she stopped talking, and Weiss offered her a hug, which she tearfully accepted.

"You and I both know that Blake promised that the next time a big problem of hers came up, she'd go to us for help, and not run away," Weiss said gently, rubbing her friend's back. "But then she went back on her word-she ran off the night Beacon fell, after her old partner cut off your arm. And I know that her leaving without saying anything hurt you as much as it hurt me.

"However, in the end, I think she did it because she thought of us. She thought that if she stayed any longer, she would end up bringing more harm to us than good, so she left. But, I also think that it was the stupidest thing she ever did-even more stupid than her running off after we learned that she was a Faunus.

"You can't blame her for, at least, thinking of us when she left. The thing is, she didn't actually think about us properly. She probably didn't realise that by leaving, she'd hurt us more than by staying. Blake is probably used to thinking that if she left people she cared about, she wouldn't cause more damage or pain to them, but that's wrong. You and I clearly know that.

"But, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't forgive her just because she did the wrong thing to us even if it was meant for us. What right do we have to be mad at her for her decisions if we can't see things in her perspective first? And what right does she even have to think she's right without seeing things in our perspective too?

"So, in other words, both you and Blake are at fault, but you need to forgive her, now that you understand how she thinks." The former heiress finished her gentle lecture, and noticed that Yang had gone silent. "Yang? Did you even..."

A bitter laugh left Yang's lips as she quietly untangled herself from Weiss's hug. Red eyes finally returned to the usual lilac as she wiped away her tears. Her eyelids were puffy, and Weiss silently supposed that Yang was having a small splitting headache.

"Y'know what, Weiss?"

"What?"

"I'm so stupid to have thought that I knew everything about her within almost a year," Yang said, a bittersweet smile on her lips. "Like the things she loves, her hobbies, and even the way she thinks."

"What are you, a sappy love-struck dunce?"

"Maaybe," The blonde drawled, giggling after. Weiss rolled her eyes in a playful manner, then got up to her feet, offering a hand to Yang, who gratefully took it.

"I think we should head back. Van and Cola should have finished refilling the airship."

"That's a great idea," Yang began, and as they walked back to the airship, she said, "Thanks for the talk back there."

"You're welcome, Yang. You can repay me by telling Blake how you really feel about her when we see her again."

"Weeeeiss!"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else."

Cola immediately took off after Weiss and Yang had boarded the ship, but no one was willing to ask about what they had talked about, and not even Ethan was sure if Yang was faking her bright mood or not.

-/-/-/-

Menagerie, as it turned out, could only accommodate ships and not airships, so the travelling quartet had to say their goodbyes to Cola and Van once they reached the nearest Mistralian port town, where they had to take a ship to the Faunus continent.

"Hey, this ain't goodbye, yet," Van casually said to the four teenagers while his partner had a sad look on her face. "We'll meet again, I'm sure of that."

"Hope so," Yang was the first one to reply. "So I can finally beat up your ass in _Remnant: The Game_." Everyone began snickering at her response, just before a nearby ship blared its horn, alerting all other passengers to board the ship to Menagerie.

The four were waving repeatedly at the pilots as the ship left the docks until the port was out of their view.

"You think we'll actually see them again in the future?" Yang asked sometime after the ship left the port. Pyrrha and Weiss had gone around, touring the ship, leaving the blonde with the raven-haired teen. Ethan only shrugged, saying, "Well, I hope so, but I'm not as sure as Van, though."

"Y'know, Van reminded me of someone."

"Who?"

"A cocky little girl whom you managed to get to help us in whatever thing you asked her."

 _Oh, Neo._ Ethan immediately thought, before he chuckled. "Yeah, I thought so too."

"Think they're related or something?"

"Probably. Might as well ask Neo when she contacts me."

The two of them were silent for a while before Yang snickered absentmindedly. Ethan looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "What is it?" He asked.

"Nah, nothing..." Yang said quickly, but the raven-haired boy caught the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. It seemed that the lively Yang was back, and that was good... Right?


	6. A Black 'n Yellow Reunion

**Chapter 5: A Black 'n Yellow Reunion**

-/- Kuo Kuana, Menagerie -/-

Upon reaching the port of Kuo Kuana just as the sun was setting, the traveling quartet were amazed to see how crowded the city of Faunus was. Huts and small stalls dotted the landscape, with many of the residents wearing clothing suitable for the tropics, giving off a tropic vibe to those who came to the city.

However, the lack of space for everyone was what freaked Weiss out, and she had audibly gulped when Ethan told them that a large portion of the island was covered by a desert that was worse than that of Vacuo's. She felt so sorry for the Faunus, and was so frozen in place that it took Yang and Pyrrha to convince her to start moving so they could meet up with Blake.

The quartet received weird looks from the residents as the girls followed Ethan to a large house that served as the Belladonna household, much to the three girls' shock.

"Are you kidding me, Ethan?!" Yang hissed, jaw agape as Ethan casually began to walk up the stairs leading to the large front doors of the house. "This is where Blake lives?!"

"Err, yeah. I mean, her dad is the mayor of this city after all..."

"What?!" All three girls shrieked.

"And he, um, was also the former leader of the White Fang, so..."

"What?!"

"Blake lives here with her parents."

"What?! Just her parents?!"

"Yeah. Now will the three of you get a hold of yourselves? We might cause a weird scene." With that, Pyrrha, Yang, and Weiss gulped and nodded their heads slowly, following the raven-haired teen to the front door. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Ethan held the door knocker with both hands and slammed it against the door.

It was a few minutes before the door opened, and a Faunus with short, black hair and pierced cat ears cautiously poked her head outside the door. "Yes? May I... Help you four?"

The girls tried to keep their mouths still as Ethan answered, "We need to speak to Blake Belladonna, please."

"Blake? Are you her friends?"

"Uhm... I'm not..." Ethan replied, before motioning to the three girls behind him. "But they are."

The woman's eyes brightened and she smiled at the quartet. "Come in then," she said. "I am Kali Belladonna, Blake's mother. She's in the study with another friend of hers."

"Wait, another friend of hers?" Weiss hesitantly echoed as she and the others came in before Kali closed the door behind them.

"Yes. She arrived here a few weeks back with a young Monkey Faunus."

"Oh, Sun." Yang said, sighing in relief. "Looks like he followed her all the way form Beacon."

"Huh, I wonder if he stowed away on the ship again."

"Quite possible," The blonde snickered.

-/-

"Can I ask you something, Sun?"

"Sure."

"Do you think Yang... Yang would... She would forgive me for what I did?"

Sun Wukong, Monkey Faunus from Vacuo, hummed in thought, leaning back on the sofa that he was sitting on. His friend, Blake Belladonna-a black-haired Cat Faunus-tilted her head as she waited for him to respond to her question. After a few minutes of pondering, the blond answered, "Yeah, she would. You just have to explain to her why you left and all."

"E-explain?" Blake stuttered, earning a nod from her fellow Faunus. "But what if she... She won't accept it? What if... What if she's still in pain over what I did?"

"Dunno about that, but the one thing I'm sure of is that she's bound to forgive you-just give her time to accept your apology and stuff."

"I... I see. Thanks, Sun. That helped a lot."

"Anytime," Was the blond's reply before a knock sounded through the study in which the two of them were in.

"Come in," Blake said softly, and the door slid open before Kali came inside. "Blake, you and Sun should come to the common room," The older Cat Faunus said. "Some people are here to see you."

"Some people?" The black and yellow haired Faunus echoed.

"Yes. Apparently, they're a few friends of yours, Blake."

 _C-could it be?_ Blake silently gulped, but she nodded at Sun and they left the study, following Kali into the common room.

And what she was totally not expecting was that when her mother opened the door, a certain grinning blonde was standing in front of her, with a _completely healed right arm._

It took all of her willpower to not freeze in place, and run straight into Yang's arms without any hesitation, crying her partner's name as she did so.

-/-

Yang was totally prepared for Blake freezing onto her place should the Cat Faunus focus on her.

She was not prepared, however, for her partner to cry, "Yang!" and run to her, ready for a hug. So her eyes widened when Blake hugged her tight, but she still returned the hug.

The two of them were like that for a while before Blake pulled away, and focused her gaze at Yang's healed arm. "B-b-but how...?"

"Eh, it's a long story."

"Yang..." Amber eyes shifted from looking at the arm to meeting Yang's lilac orbs. "I... I'm... I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you but I-"

"Oh hush," Yang immediately shushed her. "All we need is a 'sorry,' then we're done. I understand why you left, but next time... It would be better if you didn't run away, okay?"

"Besides," Chirped a certain white-haired heiress who was sitting on one of the cushions beside Yang's, "I think we've had enough of people running away for now."

Blake's eyes widened as she gasped, "Weiss! You're here too?!"

"Of course I am!" Said Atlesian huffed. "Who had to cool down your partner's anger about you leaving besides me?"

"Heh," An unfamiliar male voice startled Blake, and she turned to see a boy with messy black hair and dark blue eyes snickering alongside a familiar-looking redhead with green eyes. "You sure cooled Yang down-she doesn't look so fiery right now." The boy said, before a chorus of groans coming from Weiss, the nearby Sun, and the redhead began.

"Oh dear Oum, what did I start?" Weiss bemoaned, and Blake could not hold back a smile while Yang cheered, "Yipee! Weiss joins the pun army!"

"Hey! I had no intentions of joining you in making those lame puns!"

"But you just made one-and it was better than the last one you made back in Vale!"

"Oh, please!"

The laughter rang out as Yang-as well as Blake and Sun-sat down on the cushions provided. The Cat Faunus gave a sigh of relief. "I'm glad... I'm glad you guys are here."

"No problem," The boy said, grinning at her, but Weiss said, "Not you, you dunce! You aren't her teammate!"

"Hey! I was speaking for all of us!" The black-haired teen reasoned.

"And speaking of 'all of us,' who are you two?" Sun asked.

"I'm Ethan Kenway," The boy answered. "And I'm pretty sure you guys already know... Pyrrha over here." He motioned to the redhead, who waved shyly at them. Blake and Sun simultaneously gaped. "W-what?!"

"Hello again!" Pyrrha said cheerily. "It's been a while."

"Since when did you-" Sun's question was cut off by Weiss, who quickly said, "Long story short, Ethan managed to bring her back and heal Yang's arm. At least, that's what you just need to know."

"... Okay..."

"Just a question: where's your circlet?" Blake asked, ever the observant one. Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. When I came back, I didn't have it on me."

"Another one, if I may," Sun said, and everyone looked at him. "Where's Ruby?"

"She left for Mistral a few months ago with Jaune and the others," Was Yang's answer. "My uncle's keeping an eye on them."

"We're planning to head for Anima in a few days and catch up to them," Ethan said. "It's important that we reach them before it's too late."

"Too late? What do you mean?" Blake inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I... I'll explain when we find them. Promise."

"Better keep it," Weiss cautioned, narrowing her eyes at the raven-haired boy.

"Of course I will!" Ethan swore. "But that aside..." He glanced at Blake and Sun. "I think we need to talk about something important now."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"It's about the White Fang." With that, the cheery mood evaporated and the teens became serious. Blake and Sun exchanged nervous looks and nodded at each other before Blake said, "You... You know about the planned coup d'etat?"

The blue-eyed boy nodded. Looking at the confused freezerburn duo and Pyrrha, he supplied the explanation. "The one who led the White Fang's forces in the Fall of Beacon, Adam Taurus, plans to overthrow the current High Leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan."

"What?!" Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha cried, eyes widening. "But... But why? What would he gain from that? Aren't they fighting for the same cause?" Weiss inquired.

Blake sighed sadly, looking down. "They do fight for the same cause; to convince humanity to accept the Faunus as equals. But Adam... He wants more than just that. He wants us to be mankind's masters, to rule over them as they did to us. Sienna only wants to use violence as a means of intimidating humans to accept us, but not to take over the world."

"So if this Adam became leader," Pyrrha said slowly. "What'll happen next?"

Sun grunted, looking away. "He'll bring down Haven, just like how he did at Beacon."

Gasps from the Beacon trio echoed throughout the room. Everyone was silent for a few minutes, before Weiss spoke. "So... What are we going to do?"

"That's the thing," Blake answered, narrowing her eyes. "We're going to take it back. The White Fang, I mean."

Yang gave her partner a worried look. "You mean... You'll take control of the group?"

The Cat Faunus nodded, a determined look on her face. Upon seeing said look, Yang's face softened and she smiled at her teammate. Ethan cleared his throat after a while, saying, "Have you guys made any process on your, erm, goal?"

Sun answered with an exasperated sigh. "Welp, Mr. B and I went over to the place where Menagerie's own group of White Fang members stayed. The guys in charge only said stuff like, 'We'll take care of it,' yadda, yadda. Pissed us off!"

"At least you and Dad agreed on something," Blake remarked. "He and Dad came home with grumpy faces and equally grumpy complaints."

Ethan snickered quietly. _So this universe still adds to the story, even if we haven't seen it ourselves,_ he thought.

"Hey, speaking of your dad, where is he, anyway?" The raven-haired boy asked.

"Arranging things for an public announcement happening a few days from now," Blake replied. "He plans to reveal the plans to the public of Menagerie, whether the White Fang likes it or not."

"Oh."

"That aside," Blake turned to Weiss, Yang, and Pyrrha. "Mind telling Sun and I now about how you're all here?"

Yang laughed nervously. "Welp... That's a long story..."

-/-/-/-

It was late into the night when Ethan was able to settle into the room he had been given by Kali. When they had told the older Cat Faunus about their intention to stay in Menagerie for a while before leaving for Anima, she offered a few of the guestrooms in the house to them.

His room consisted of a chair-and-desk just beside a simple clean bed, as well as a wooden dresser. There was a nearby small balcony that the raven-haired teen was currently occupying as he enjoyed the cool breeze of the night.

After a while, Ethan was about to head back inside his room, but a familiar voice stopped him from doing so.

"Ethan," Came a certain white-cloaked woman's voice. "I see you've been doing well on your mission."

The teen flinched upon hearing her voice, not expecting to meet Summer at the current time of the night, but quickly turned to face her and said, "H-hey Summer. Didn't expect you to contact me now..."

"I apologize," Summer giggled, knowing that she had scared the daylights out of the boy. "Old habits die hard."

"But aren't you dead already?"

An awkward silence reigned after his reply, before the silver-eyed woman sighed and said, "I don't know who is the worst at making those kinds of jokes. Either it's you or Tai or Yang, or even-"

"Does Qrow make puns too?"

"Heavens, no," The redhead answered in a shocked tone. "But he has a close friend who used to crack puns with Tai while we studied at Beacon."

"I suppose that they were the worst pair of comedians Beacon ever saw."

"Nope, not worst pair. They somehow managed to rope Qrow into their shenanigans, so they were the worst trio of comedians that Beacon ever saw, even without the puns."

Ethan snickered. Summer chuckled along with him before she said, "Well, onto more important matters... I take it that you've made some good friends while you're here?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with making friends and close bonds, but I must warn you: you won't be staying in Remnant for the rest of your life. Once your mission is complete, you have to return to your world."

The raven-haired boy's face fell, but he nodded in understanding. "I... See. So I can't get too attached, then."

"That is correct." Summer replied. Ethan was silent for a few minutes, letting the night breeze pass by the two of them before he turned to Summer again with a curious look. "Hey Summer, I've been wondering something..."

"What is it?"

"How... How were you able to send me here?"

"That is a very difficult question to answer..." The crimson-haired woman said, sighing. "But, what I can tell you is that when I had died, I was given a chance to search for someone who could help my world. I took it, and the rest is, well, it's history."

"Huh," Ethan said quietly. "Who gave you that ability then?"

"I don't really know who they were, but one of them gave me this." Summer explained, taking out a blank white card from her belt's strap-on pocket and showing it to the black-haired boy before putting it back. "This card allows me to contact them, just in case I need help."

"I reckon you've used it a lot."

"Yeah," The Huntress said sheepishly, laughing nervously. "They were always willing to help."

The two of them were silent once more, before Summer sighed, getting up from the sturdy, wooden railing of the balcony that she had been sitting on throughout her visit. "I have to go now. You need your rest, and explain a few things to your friends tomorrow morning."

The raven-haired boy subsequently yawned upon Summer's mention of him needing rest. "I suppose I have to turn in for the night now."

"Ah! Wait," The redhead exclaimed. "The ones who sent you here... One of them wanted to let you have these." She gave Ethan a small, wrapped package. The boy raised an eyebrow and immediately opened the package. Inside was a pair of wired clip-on greyish-blue earphones and a small, grey, cylindrical, neck-strapped tube that looked like an MP3 player.

"What the..." The teen said slowly, immediately wearing the strap and plugging the clip-on earphones into the MP3 player. "Who am I, Peter Quill?"

"I don't know who that is," Summer commented, shrugging her shoulders. "But they look good on you."

"Tell them thanks, okay?"

"No problemo," The silver-eyed woman chirped, before she faded away. Ethan smiled softly at the present, then realized there was a handwritten note that came with the package.

 _It took a while to craft these things, but it was definitely worth it when Summer said that you were fond of listening to music! When you need to chill, just press play! -M_

The boy chuckled quietly and finally went inside his room for the night.

-/-/-/-

Unbeknownst to Ethan while he was talking with Summer, Blake and Yang had been having their own private (and possibly long overdue) conversation in the Cat Faunus's own room.

"Blake... We really, really need to talk." Yang had said after she knocked on Blake's door and had been let in by said black-haired former Huntress-in-training, who then immediately froze in position upon hearing Yang's determined voice.

Gulping silently, Blake turned to look at her partner, who was giving her a concerned look. "S-Sure," She replied uneasily, cat ears twitching nervously as Yang sighed. "What is it, Yang?"

"It's about... It's about us." The blonde shakily said, uncharacteristically hiding her hands behind her back, feeling a few sweat drops trickle down the back of her neck. Blake frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I—" Yang faltered, before groaning in frustration and yanking at a few strands of her hair. Blake, worried, approached her teammate cautiously, softly saying, "Yang, what's wrong?"

The blonde only groaned another time and looked at Blake straight in the eye. Much to Blake's worry and fear, the dragon's eyes had turned from lilac to red.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Yang hissed, her tone causing Blake to flinch. "I don't know how to tell you that, that—"

"That what?"

"That I love you, stupid!"

 _Mother of Oum, Yang's a tsundere,_ Blake thought, before giggling and replying, "Calm down, Yang, no need to get so worked up about it."

"It's just that, argh! Weiss said to tell you about this in the most romantic way possible, and I dunno what that is, so—"

"Yang."

"What?"

"Here," Blake placed a kiss on the blonde's cheek, enjoying the sight of Yang's cheeks slowly turning red. "I love you too."

Yang froze in position for a few minutes, before she relaxed and sighed. "S-Sorry about that..." She apologized. "I... For once, I'm at a loss for words on what to say."

"It's all right," Blake said softly. "I was also at a loss for words on how to tell you as well."

The blonde gave her a soft smile. "Can we do that again?"

"The what?"

"You know what I mean, kitty~"

"Yang, don't—"

The night skies were filled with meows and moans from the bumblebee duo

-/- The next day... -/-

Ethan came out of his room and went to the common room, only find no one except Weiss, who was sitting on one of the cushions as she read a book no doubt procured from one of the shelves nearby.

"Morning Weiss."

"Hm?" The ex-heiress looked up to see the raven-haired teen grinning at her and taking a cushion beside hers. "Oh, good morning Ethan. Slept well?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Same." The unusual glum voice of the white-haired girl caused Ethan to raise an eyebrow. Weiss wasn't sounding like her usual self today...

"Weiss, you really okay?"

"I am, don't worry." The flicker of sadness in her blue eyes did not escape Ethan's curiously worried gaze. He frowned at her, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Weiss, please tell me the truth."

Weiss looked at him in the eye for a few seconds, before sighing and giving up. "All right, fine. It's... It's about Yang."

"Yang? What about her?"

"I... I... I don't really know how to word this, but—"

"Mornin' Ethan, Weiss!" Yang's upbeat voice interrupted the ex-heiress, and Ethan looked up to see Yang with her arm slung across Blake's neck in an affectionate manner. Blake herself gave him and Weiss a shy smile as she and Yang walked into the common room.

"Morning guys. Where are Pyrrha and Sun?"

"Sun's still asleep. It's seven in the morning anyways, so we can't blame him. Pyrrha's in her room getting prepared," Yang answered, plopping onto one of the cushions while Blake sat beside her.

"Oh, okay," Ethan said, before he took a glance at Weiss. While she looked calm and composed as the exchange of words went on, her eyes told a different story. The black-haired teen could see a tear threatening to trickle down her cheek, though Weiss was doing her best to blink it away.

Just what was wrong with her?


End file.
